Empowered by advances in server and virtualization technology, as well as more secure and flexible cloud service offerings, more and more companies are choosing to move their applications to lower-cost, more energy-efficient systems, or entirely to the cloud. Cloud migration has become an especially prevalent trend, as companies discover the greater flexibility and easier IT infrastructure management the cloud can provide. For many companies, the benefits of a cloud migration or server consolidation are clear, but such a significant systems change requires careful IT asset management planning to ensure the transition is completed according to plan, on budget, and on time.

IT management teams planning for a cloud migration or data center consolidation are concerned about:

Downtime

Data security

Initial cost vs. long-term savings

Customer support

A cloud migration or data center consolidation always leaves IT assets in its wake—the servers and other hardware formerly used for storage and networking. Sometimes it’s beneficial to business operations to redeploy these assets, but often they need to be removed for recycling or remarketing.

Often, planning for IT asset disposition (ITAD) and data security and destruction is pushed to the end of a cloud migration or data center consolidation project, but planning ahead for moving and disposing of assets and managing any data stored on them will reduce risk, costs, and stress for the operations team.

Here are six ITAD areas organizations should consider before a data center migration or shut down:

1. Disposal or redeployment

After the project, do surplus IT assets have a place in your organization’s IT infrastructure? Consider their operational and resale value.

2. Data destruction or sanitization

Because of the high risk involved, data security is a high priority for most organizations. Data retention policies and data security policies for tapes and hard drives can impact costs and the ability to complete the data center project or cloud migration on time. Many corporate policies require that data must be either destroyed or sanitized (wiped) before the tapes or hard drives can be removed from the facility.

3. Regulatory and environmental compliance

Every company must adhere to certain industry regulations as well as federal and state environmental regulations. To prevent fines and bad publicity, asset disposition must be complete in compliance with both.

4. Investment recovery

Equipment that has been retired from data center use and not marked for redeployment has potential value on the resale market. For maximum value, remarketing decisions should be planned thoughtfully as early in the process as possible.

5. Leased asset management

If some data center assets are leased, when planning a migration or consolidation, companies need to decide whether to return the assets to the lessor or buy out.

6. Space and time

Large IT asset disposition projects take up space and people’s time that might not be available or might be put to better use—getting the new servers online, for example. Plan ahead to minimize this impact.

Best Practice for a Cloud Migration: Plan Ahead for ITAD

Because of the risk and costs involved, proper IT asset disposition should not be overlooked or performed too hastily in the schedule crunch of a major operations change like a cloud migration or a data center consolidation. Don’t wait until the end of a project to plan for it. Our guide, “Cloud Migration, Data Center Consolidation, and IT Asset Disposition,” discusses in depth the six areas of concern listed above and suggests best practices for planning for them before consolidating or closing a data center.

Data collected from 2+ Million consumers has helped put together these gadget recycling predictions.

We’re now outnumbered; there are more mobile devices on the planet than people.

The reason for such large volumes of unused handsets being on the market is the lack of consumers who recycle and reuse their old devices. There are so many options nowadays for getting rid of your old device for some cash, the most popular being; eBay, gadget recycling, local advertorial listings and reusing your device by giving or selling it to a friend. So what are the gadget recycling predictions for 2013 on how the industry and trends will evolve?

Back in 2011 it was reported that over 130 million unused phones in the US, 160 million in Europe (40 million of which are in the UK). The value of the 40 million phones in the UK was $1.2 Billion / £762 Million. Now new data is in: A survey in 2013 shows the figure is down to $1.08 Billion / £686 Million showing the awareness of gadget recycling increasing for the consumer.

This decrease is great news, as naturally the values should be increasing considering the huge booms in smartphone sales in the past 24 months and the average trade in value being $179 / £114 (Dec 2012). Instead this data shows the older devices are being recycled, otherwise the monetary value would be much higher than $1.2 Billion / £762 Million for 40 Million UK devices.

Prediction 2: The average trade in value will increase 25% in 2013?

Based on historic pricing data from comparemymobile.com, there has been a steady device value increase year on year that has stabilised with the release of cheaper android smartphones. By the end of 2013 consumers can expect to receive $224 / £142 on average, this is an increase from 2012’s $179 / £114.

The reason for these increases is really down to the trade in market maturing as it’s still very new. Just 5 years previous the average value a consumer saw was $32 / £20. Now, as more consumer facing recycling companies enter the market, prices become more competitive, stores are forced to find smarter exit routes for their stock than shipping the handsets out to China factories. Now places like Europe, Africa, India take on old devices, some companies refurbish the devices to resell within the same country, other companies pass on refurbish stock to phone insurance channels as cheaper replacements.

Prediction 3: The devices that will hold their value in 2013

We’ve based the following data on UK pricing trends from gadget manufacturer and model values graphed over the past 5 years.

Apple iPad (all models)

Sony Playstation 3 Slim

BlackBerry Curve 8520

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite

Amazon Kindle Fire

The Xbox 360 Elite, Playstation 3 Slim and Kindle are new devices to be added to the recycling portfolio, therefore as discussed in prediction 2; the market is still maturing for them. New rival stores competing have actually raised the price in the last 12 months for these products. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 has hit a stage now where in the last 12 months it has only dropped in price by 2%.

The iPad has interestingly remained fairly stable only loosing on average 8% of its value. Similar products from rival companies Samsung and RIM depreciated between 30-37%. The iPad seems a good investment, considering historically as Apple launches new products the trade value of its predecessor crashes. Take the launch of the iPhone 5, in a 30 day period Apple iPhone trade-ins erupted 367% causing an average from in all iPhone values by 40% (in the same 30 day period). This is something worth keeping in mind if you’re a business or consumer when you consider upgrading your old device.

Prediction 4: The top 10 recycled in 2013

Below are the top 5 recycled gadgets of 2012 and the share of the total trade-ins during that 12 month period. The last half of 2012 the latest iPhone models (iPhone 4S and 5) began increasing in trade in volumes which was would surprise some of you as the iPhone 5 only just come out in Sept 2012!

Top recycled gadgets for 2012

Apple iPhone 4 16GB – (17% 2012 trade ins)

Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB – (7% 2012 trade ins)

BlackBerry 8520 – (6% 2012 trade ins)

Samsung Galaxy S – (5% 2012 trade ins)

Samsung Galaxy S2 – (3% 2012 trade ins)

Top recycled gadget predictions for 2013

The predicted list below is mapped on trends represented by big gadget / phone releases, historic pricing, current recycle data as well as taking into account how the market share has shifted between manufacturers in the past 12 months.

Apple iPhone 4 16GB

Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB

Apple iPhone 4S 16GB

BlackBerry 8520

Apple iPhone 5 16GB

Samsung Galaxy S2

BlackBerry Curve 9300

Samsung Galaxy S3

Samsung Galaxy S

BlackBerry Torch 9800

With the impending release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the BlackBerry 10 the trade in market is expected to shift away from what was previously a top 10 dominated by Apple and Blackberry. With Samsungs sales from the last 24 months, especially the Galaxy S series the UK has seen a large climb in the charts by the manufacturer. The release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 will no doubt have a huge impact on loyal customers wanting to upgrade from their old models. Any plan/contract periods will be ending, thus freeing the consumers to upgrade their handsets and trade in their older models.

Prediction 5: Mobile recycling will become more accessible at a corporate level

Data protection on mobile devices is a huge risk to any corporate company. When recycling mobile devices and tablets, traditionally these companies have concerns regarding the level of data deletion the devices receive. New innovations in security suites have enabled forensic deletion of data, anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-theft that enable corporate recycling to take place on such devices. This recycling can be used to replenish expenses on business phones or donate and raise funds for their corporate partners such as charities. An example of a company that provides this is BlackBeltDefence.com.

So what does the future have in store for gadget recycling?

Most of these websites started off as phone recycling companies, however as the market has grown they expanded into larger ranges. As more prices get listed on these gadgets the value to the consumer gets better naturally from them competing against each other. A recent survey has pulled in data suggesting that these are the top gadgets people have no use for in their homes. This would likely effect the growth of the range consumers can recycle and alter the top devices with great price retention in the future.

40 million unused mobile phones

12 million unused games consoles

11 million unused digital cameras

9 million unused PCs

5.5 million unused laptops

1 million unused sat navs

About CompareMyMobile.com

CompareMyMobile.com actively promotes the re-use and recycling, progressing green reduction of E-waste in the UK. To discover more about mobile recycling in the UK visit comparemymobile.com. There are some great resources for learning about how e-waste recycling impacts the environment and the drain in resources mobile devices have on the African Congo, including its wildlife like the Eastern Lowland Gorilla.

Launched back in 2009, CompareMyMobile.com is the UK’s most trusted independent source for gadget recycling comparison. To date the company has recycled $65.9 Million (£41.7M) gadgets and displaying 100,000’s prices for phones, cameras, games consoles, tablets, tablet readers, iPods, laptop and sat navs. Find out more about our 100% impartial service by contacting us at CompareMyMobile.com or become a follower on https://twitter.com/CompareMyMobile or https://www.facebook.com/comparemymobile

IT asset disposition (ITAD) is a young field relative to others in the broader IT industry, but it will need to grow up fast to keep up with the ever-increasing quantity of devices making their way into the workplace and home. This challenge should not be underestimated. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2.37 million tons of electronics were retired in 2009, an increase of more than 120 percent over a decade earlier. BCC Research, a market forecasting organization focused on science and technology trends, expects e-waste will continue growing indefinitely at 8 percent annually.

Statistics like these are causing notice from news organizations, regulators and special interest groups who are increasingly interested in how various industry players, from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to large companies, are protecting human health and the environment through their disposition practices.

Data breaches making headlines more often
While the environmental impact of e-waste gains attention as a recognized global challenge, data security breaches are already a common news story and concern among the general public. In 2012, for example, a NASA employee’s laptop containing personal information on over 10,000 employees was stolen from a car. This past January, Global Payments Inc. announced that a data breach in April 2012, which affected an estimated 1.5 million payment cards in North America, cost the company $93.9 million. The list of high-profile organizations impacted seems to grow longer each week.

Such statistics and data breach examples are likely not surprising to executives tasked with making decisions about their company’s disposition vendor. They know that data breaches can be devastating to a company’s bottom line and reputation, and that good corporate citizenship requires environmentally sensitive disposition. What is often less clear to them, however, is whether their company has the right process in place to protect against unsafe industry practices. What is the best method of destroying data on hard drives? Is it okay if an ITAD vendor uses downstream vendors to process e-waste? The answers to these questions are more controversial than they should be.

What the industry lacks are standardized practices to ensure that the environment is protected and data breaches do not occur. The two main certifications governing IT asset disposition, R2 and e-Stewards, have made crucial steps in that direction, but the industry still has a long way to go. In order to identify areas that need improvement and measure future progress, it is helpful to understand how certifications came into existence and why their requirements are different.

The R2 and e-Stewards split
The R2 Standard, or R2, began in 2006 as an effort to create best practices in the electronics recycling industry. Various stakeholder groups, including regulators, electronics recyclers, refurbishers, trade associations and OEMs, developed the standards, which were the first of their kind. The EPA provided funding to facilitate the development of R2, and in 2010 R2 Solutions was formed to officially administer the certification, the most widely accepted accreditation among IT recyclers.

In 2010, e-Stewards came into existence after the Basel Action Network (BAN), an environmental justice organization focused on protecting developing countries from e-waste, decided not to participate in the final development stages of the R2 standards. They withdrew after two years over disagreements about export rules. BAN wanted to prohibit the export of e-waste to other countries, regardless of whether it was processed in accordance with R2 standards. BAN would go on to form e-Stewards.

In an industry that lacked adequate standards, the certifications were a critical step forward. Both have the support of different recyclers and are accredited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB).

Where R2 and e-Stewards diverge

The main difference between the two certifications is e-Stewards’ ban on the export of e-waste to developing countries. R2 does not support this ban, instead requiring due diligence to verify that downstream vendors handle e-waste according to R2 standards.

Under e-Stewards, sending equipment to an audited and responsible overseas recycling facility for processing would not be allowed. Critics argue that through this policy e-Stewards is actually harming the development of proper recycling in developing countries. This argument is a serious one. According to reporting in The Economist, a quarter of the world’s e-waste is produced by developing countries. As early as 2018, developing countries could overtake wealthier nations in the amount of e-waste they produce. These countries need to be building the infrastructure and developing the expertise to refurbish or recycle their own retired electronics.

Certifications’ data security standards inadequate
Although both certifications address data security, they primarily recommend adherence to other national standards, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for data sanitization. Because R2 and e-Stewards began primarily as an effort to deal with e-waste, neither has produced best practices stringent enough to keep a breach from happening. Yet, by requiring adherence to the NIST guidelines, they seem to suggest that doing so is sufficient to safeguard data; it is not.

Vet your ITAD vendor
The old adage “buyer beware” applies to shopping for an ITAD vendor. R2 and e-Stewards set minimum standards for disposition, but companies should perform their own due diligence to ensure their retired assets are processed according to the highest standards.

Organizations do not generally set out to find an adequate ITAD vendor that meets minimum regulatory and certification standards. They want excellent disposition partners with the processes in place to protect their bottom line and reputation. Doing that, however, requires vetting a vendor thoroughly.

The solution is to know a potential ITAD vendor’s processes before entrusting them with your assets. When evaluating a vendor, ask questions that go beyond whether they adhere to a particular certification. For example, certifications do not address whether companies can use subcontractors to pick up equipment, engage third parties to actually recycle the e-waste, or ship unencrypted data-bearing devices without first sanitizing them. Below are three important areas for consideration:

Data security: Know your vendor, visit the facility and ask if subcontractors are used. Understand how data is destroyed. The risk of data ending up in the wrong hands is reduced when data is destroyed before shipping devices offsite. A vendor should provide verification that all unencrypted data has been wiped prior to shipment.

Safeguarding the environment: Technology assets contain pounds of toxic materials and chemicals. If companies do not have the capability to recycle assets internally, they must rely on third parties that may not have adequate controls to ensure proper recycling. To retain control and eliminate reliance on multiple vendors, look for a partner that has the infrastructure in-house to refurbish or process e-waste. Schedule a visit to see their facilities firsthand.

Third party audits: Consider other third party audits besides those required by e-Stewards and R2. For example, in addition to R2 certification, U.S. Micro Corporation recently achieved the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Service Organization Controls (SOC) 2, Type II designation. As part of this review, independent auditors evaluated and tested various controls at U.S. Micro, including processes related to data elimination; information security; disposition; electronic inventory counts; human resources; IT change management; and other controls.

The proper role of certificationsIn the absence of more stringent industry standards, it is up to individual organizations to thoroughly evaluate and vet potential ITAD vendors. R2 and e-Stewards set baseline standards that the industry needs, but they are not sufficient tests of a vendor’s disposition process.

Executives entrusted with disposition decisions should verify that vendors have an audited, established process to prevent breaches and dispose of e-waste responsibly. By doing this, they can be a driving force behind higher de facto standards across the industry, whether the certifying bodies require them or not.

Jim Kegley is the founder, president and CEO of U.S. Micro Corporation, a major innovator and leader in enterprise IT data security. Headquartered in Las Vegas and with additional disposition centers in Atlanta and Dallas, U.S. Micro serves Fortune 500 companies and other organizations that demand the highest levels of data security and environmental stewardship.

Conclusion cautions against relying exclusively on certifications when evaluating IT asset disposition vendors

LAS VEGAS, January 15, 2013 – U.S. Micro Corporation (www.usmicrocorp.com), a leader in enterprise data security and IT asset disposition (ITAD), partnered with Atlanta-based Cookerly Public Relations (www.cookerly.com) to develop a report analyzing the key differences between R2 and e-Stewards, the two main ITAD industry certifications. R2 and e-Stewards serve as baseline standards for the proper disposal of IT equipment.

Both certifications seek to maximize the reuse of electronics and standardize environmentally-responsible disposal when devices cannot be refurbished, yet each has attracted criticism for various reasons. For example, some critics say their data security guidelines are inadequate.

The report concluded that while certifications establish important standards for the industry, they do not guarantee that companies adhere to the highest data security and environmental practices. Some certified vendors, for example, use third parties with questionable practices for sensitive tasks such as wiping data and processing e-waste.

“The ITAD industry needs certifications to keep progressing toward more effective data security and environmental practices, but they are not sufficient tests of a company’s processes,” said Jim Kegley, founder, president and CEO of U.S. Micro. “The bottom line is that there is no substitute for thorough due diligence that tests whether an ITAD vendor has the right safeguards in place to protect both sensitive information and the environment.”

Since 1995, U.S. Micro Corporation has been a major innovator and leader in enterprise IT data security. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., U.S. Micro serves Fortune 500 companies that demand the highest levels of data security and environmental stewardship. Committed to a 100 percent no landfill policy, the company refurbishes and sells approximately 90 percent of the equipment it processes; the remaining 10 percent is EPA-compliantly recycled at its Next-Generation IT Demanufacturing and Distribution Center in Las Vegas. U.S. Micro is R2, G.R.A.D.E. (Green Recycling Asset Disposal for the Enterprise), ISO 14001:2004 and Payment Card Industry (PCI) certified. It is also a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher and holds the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Service Organization Controls (SOC) 2, Type II designation.

Data security is a top priority for most organizations for the disposition of their IT assets. Sensitive data must be cleared from the drives of retired IT equipment before it can be remarketed. However, many misconceptions exist about the process, standards and technology related to data erasure. Here, we try to clear up a few:

Myth #1: “It’s cheaper to do it myself.”

Truth: While many organizations believe it’s less expensive to permanently erase data from IT equipment in-house than by partnering with an asset disposition solution provider, some basic math reveals costs that may be overlooked. Consider what your organization pays its technicians and the value of the time it takes them to set up, perform the erasure, and document it. There’s also the cost of taking your team away from a project that may be more strategic for your organization. Finally, there are costs associated with the space, systems, and software required to perform data erasure. Make sure you consider all the costs.

Myth #2: “It is more secure to use my team than to outsource data erasure.”

Truth: Security is the whole purpose for erasing data from retired IT equipment. Some companies reason that the best way to ensure total data erasure is to do it internally. That way, they have total control of the process. However, LifeSpan has found that as many as 10 percent of the drives it receives from clients who say they have erased the data on them still contain some form of data, either in remnant form or completely intact. For firms concerned about security, this is a major risk. Your IT team may be skilled in a number of areas, but they may not all be familiar with proper data erasure procedures, or they may be doing multiple things during the erasure process and not be able to ensure the end to end quality of the process. A staff dedicated solely to data erasure at a certified partner, on the other hand, will be trained in the process, software tools, standards and best practices. They can offer a documented data erasure process certified according to industry standards.

Myth #3: “Freeware works good enough for us.”

Truth: You can’t beat free for the cost of data erasure software. But free isn’t always free when you factor in the loss of productivity from using slow and inefficient software, and the time it takes to manually document each drive that is wiped. Free software often comes from unknown sources and its creators may rarely, if ever, update it. Carefully review your tool’s origins and documentation, and have a process to quality check the results.

Myth #4: “I trust the local vendor that I’ve been using for years.”

Truth: Just because your organization has been partnered with the same vendor for years doesn’t mean that vendor can always be counted on for complete data erasure. It only takes one drive to get through the process with data still on it to cost your company a significant amount of money and time. If you use a certified IT asset disposition vendor, you can be sure that it meets the highest standards for data erasure and its entire disposition process had been documented. The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) is one of the major certification bodies that focus exclusively on security, and it performs both an annual and a surprise audit each year on the organizations it certifies. By working with a certified ITAD provider, you’re saving yourself the trouble of checking up on the work of your vendor, because it’s already been done for you.

Myth #5: “I am protected because I encrypt my drives.”

Truth: While encryption is a good deterrent against those who try to access the data on your drives, it is not an accepted data sanitization standard. Though it’s in a derivative form, the information is still there. The technology may not currently exist to access it in a commercially viable way, but that could change in the future as new techniques are developed. For asset retirement, proper data erasure will provide you with an electronic record that the data has been completely destroyed and no remnants remain.

In the previous post, we discussed some common misconceptions about data erasure, which is a top priority for most organizations that deal with the disposition of their IT assets. We found that performing data erasure internally—using your organization’s own staff and resources—is not always the least expensive, most secure way to handle it. Here are five more myths to consider as you plan to optimize your organization’s IT asset disposition program.

Myth #6: “I destroy all my drives to be secure.”

Truth: All the major standards organizations accept proper data erasure as equal to the physical destructions of drives. IT assets without hard drives lose about 20 to 30 percent of their remarket value. On the other hand, erasure does cost money, so erasing data from equipment that won’t have resale value is a waste. One method—erasure or destruction—does not fit all the possible disposition scenarios. A good ITAD vendor can help you analyze the different factors and create a plan that balances remarket value with risk and security.

Myth #7: “Solid state drives (SSDs) cannot be erased.”

Truth: Solid state drives have become a popular alternative to magnetic drives. Although they appear to operate the same as magnetic drives, their underlying technology is quite different. Some believe data can never be fully erased from solid state drives. However, experts at the University of California, San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering Non Volatile Systems Laboratory (NVSL) have found that performing Secure Erase and software based sanitization together can be effective for erasing readable data on these drives

Myth #8: “I erased the drives, so I’m covered.”

Truth: Simply believing data has been erased from retired equipment at some point is not enough to give IT managers peace of mind. Where is the equipment stored prior to erasure and where does it go after? Without a documented process and a clear chain of custody, there is risk equipment with data that hasn’t been erased can slip through the cracks in the process and into the outside world. A well-documented disposition process is a necessity for any organization that is concerned about data security.

Truth: The Department of Defense standard for data erasure, DoD 5220.22-m, often referred to in the industry as simply “DoD,” has been surpassed. The latest U.S. government standard, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Homeland Security, is NIST 800-88. The previous DoD requirement of 3 passes is effective. However, experts say, modern drives are much more accurate writing than drives from 20 years ago, and really require only one pass to sanitize all data.

]]>The Importance of Final Dispositionhttp://www.powersourceonline.com/magazine/2012/09/the-importance-of-final-disposition
Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:10:40 +0000http://www.powersourceonline.com/magazine/?p=6426The Importance of Final Disposition to an IT Asset Management Program

By: Lynne Weiss, IAITAM

IT Asset Management is the practice surrounding the management of IT assets from a financial, inventory and contractual standpoint. The management of the entire lifecycle of your hardware, software and mobile assets fall under this set of business processes, from initial asset planning, to its disposition at the end of its utility. End-of-life practices, or ITAD (IT Asset Disposition), is critical to the business, mainly for risk avoidance due to errors. If managed properly, final disposition of IT assets can result in a positive net cash flow.

To start with, any phase of an ITAM program must have the necessary foundation of policies and process in place. Effective policies govern employee behavior and actions, and policies defining disposal practices, are the first step in implementing your disposition program. Process then follows policy. Process development questions to consider with your disposal team include:

How are we going to manage assets before they leave our facility?

How are the assets being stored?

Are asset tags removed and logged?

Do we have tracking mechanisms in place for inventory reconciliation?

Have we or can we harvest software from this device?

Is this a lease or purchase?

What about the data and backup?

What part of these activities are manual and what can be automated?

These questions should be addressed even before considering what vendor to choose and what method of disposal is a good fit.

Once processes are built around the internal aspects of your equipment, and data is secured, (wiped or stored offsite before the asset departs), it’s time to consider your options for utilizing a vendor to accept custody of the assets and finish the disposition process. Typical alternatives when it comes to disposition choice include:

Disposal vendor, where the end result is proper destruction of the equipment

Vendor resale programs, where vendor will split profits of resale of assets with organization

Vendor resale of component parts, where equipment is dismantled and sold in pieces, which requires even more diligence, tracking, and reporting from both sides of the transaction.

Regardless of option chosen, the chain of custody, along with accompanying detailed documentation and secure transport, need to be monitored on a regular basis. Choosing the wrong vendor can subject the organization to serious fines and penalties along with unwanted public scrutiny and negative exposure resulting in revenue loss. The IT asset manager needs to lead the program and verify that processes are built to minimize risk surrounding the exchange.

Best practices to implement to ensure this does not occur when selecting or working with an ITAD vendor should include:

Contracts and disposition guarantees signed by officer of vendor’s organization

Vendor site visits

Vendor evaluation/comparisons and reviews

One thing to consider is that even with proper due diligence, mistakes do happen, and theft and losses can occur. Risks to the organization and the potential for data loss in this particular phase of an ITAM program are exceedingly high. IT assets are constantly in motion and whether transitioning to the disposition vendor or from one department to another, assets go missing. Having robust processes with supporting tracking, documentation and systems will assist in detecting an unreported loss. Also, organizations that utilize remote disabling or wipe technology reduce the risk when those losses occur.

When assets reach the end of their usefulness within the organization, are too old or can’t support the current organization’s software image, one recommendation is to remove hard drives or wipe all data before it leaves your facility. This will substantially reduce the risk of permanent data loss. In addition to data loss, you must consider the environmental impact. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. can impose penalties and fines that can run into the six-figure plus range if improper disposal is detected. Countries around the globe are keenly aware of the growing surplus of used IT assets and have similar if not more hard-hitting legislation to curb improper disposal. According to the International Association of Electronic Recyclers in the IAER Electronic Recycling Industry Report for 2003, it is anticipated that based on today’s usage and trends, approximately 1 billion units of computer equipment will be disposed of between 2003 and 2010 (www.iaer.org).

Alongside improper disposal is improper storage of IT assets. Storage facilities can be deemed hazardous and treated as a hazardous waste site which results in significant penalties, negative publicity and potential revenue loss. Your organization can be held accountable in these circumstances if you failed to warrant that the proper steps were taken to ensure proper disposal.

Now disposal and equipment destruction is not the only option available to organizations. A disposition program can generate a positive cash flow for the organization. There are many vendors that will resell your assets into a secondary used IT market, which due to the advent of mobile devices and the fast pace at which they are released, is flourishing. Laptops, pads and mobile devices in general are examples of IT assets most commonly resold. If considering a resale arrangement, some considerations include a careful review of the terms and conditions of the agreement. Questions to ask include what percentage of the sales price will come back to the originating organization? What happens to assets that are deemed unsuitable for resale and what about the software that resides on the machine or will be loaded as part of the sale? There are of course many more, but it is your responsibility to ensure that the selected vendor is protecting your organization. In many cases, organizations have fully funded their disposition program through resale and profited from the process.

You may think that this concludes your disposition program and your responsibility towards those assets. Surprise – not yet! Even after the assets have left your environment and you have the proper documentation to show it. This documentation must be retained indefinitely as proof of disposition.

As IT assets improve in speed, shrink in size and grow in functionality, so will an organization’s ITAM program and the processes that surround end-of-life disposition. The processes are time consuming and require vigilance, care and monitoring. Proper disposition can lead to a positive cash flow and mitigate risk for an organization, but only if it is properly implemented and consistently monitored.

Our Serious Good approach is based on the idea that doing good is also good for business. In doing Serious Good, we follow five basic principles to ensure an optimum computer donation experience:

1. Promote Teamwork
Serious Good provides an innovative opportunity for IT to support broader corporate goals for brand building and corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, IT acting on its own may lack the resources to achieve the maximum benefits of philanthropic donation. The solution – a team approach to Serious Good.

Key stakeholders include:

IT, which controls the surplus IT assets

CSR and community affairs teams, which are always seeking ways to strategically support philanthropic objectives – and may have funding to underwrite refurbishment costs. CSR professionals are responsible for delivering maximum impact for each dollar spent on philanthropy – and gifts-in-kind of refurbished computers provides a much higher ROI than cash giving.

Marketing, which has the resources to maximize the brand-building value of the donation and share this positive story with employees and the community, can help also work with CSR to identify organizations that need technology and align with your company’s overall giving strategy.

2. Maximize return on Surplus Computers
Serious Good reflects our industry-leading approach of delivering the greatest value, with the least amount of risk, for each and every IT asset. Our Portfolio Yield Management team advises customers to determine which computers are best suited for donation. Our proprietary Retrac® system ensures your donated computers are value-appropriately reconditioned and can automatically direct your most valuable assets to resale to optimize the return – and minimize or eliminate the costs – from your donation program.

3. Refurbish to provide a quality gift
Our rigorous refurbishment process ensures that recipients receive a high-quality, fully functional PC with the essential software and peripherals. Refurbishment also helps ensure each donated computer has a productive “second life” to benefit both the recipient and the environment.

Every donated computer is refurbished to the uncompromising standards of a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR), including complete data wiping, intensive OEM-level testing, reconditioning, repairs and upgrades. As a MAR, we preinstall genuine Windows 7 or Windows XP Professional and the Microsoft Office suite – essential software with a retail value of approximately $500 – on each computer for only a nominal administrative fee.

To complete the process, each refurbished PC is professionally packaged under our GoodPC℠ brand for a like-new user experience.

4. Offer flexible donation options
To maximize opportunities for Serious Good – and align with corporate social responsibility objectives – we provide comprehensive donation management services to support a giving strategy that is right for your company. Opportunities include:

Our Serious Good Donation Partners. We have established relationships with organizations that have an ongoing need for Microsoft Authorized Refurbished computers to support their programs and members. These partners provide a streamlined option for donating surplus computers – along with supporting services – so you can be assured your computers go to Serious Good use and boost your CSR.

Your Community Partners. If you already have favorite organizations you would like to support through donations, we will facilitate all aspects of the process, including MAR eligibility for deeply discounted software, so you enjoy the benefits of enhanced relationships with your community partners – without the administrative headaches and risks.

Additional ways to extend your involvement in Serious Good include:

Collection Programs allow your employees to get involved in community development and charitable giving endeavors by donating their used-yet-useful computers through on-site employee collection events and scheduled drop-offs.

Other Giving. We can work with you on other creative options to utilize surplus assets to balance your philanthropic goals with financial objectives including the donation of non-PC equipment, software, remarketing proceeds and more.

5. Ensure your peace of mind through the entire process
We enable you to do Serious Good while ensuring your peace of mind by assuming administrative duties and liabilities associated with the computer donation process. Our approach includes:

Managing all details from recovery of your IT assets through processing, packaging and delivery to the donation recipient you specify.

Ensuring that all donated computers are tracked to the industry’s highest security standards from pick up through data wiping, refurbishment and delivery.

Providing support services to recipients that include our toll-free technical assistance as well as online software support from Microsoft.

Providing detailed reporting regarding data erasure to meet your security compliance requirements and donation value so you can to realize the tax and CSR reporting benefits of your donation.

Including free takeback with every donated refurbished computer to ensure responsible recycling once they reach end of life – and to mitigate your environmental liability.

It ain’t what’s on your desk, that’s for sure. We call that e-Waste and it is best handled by companies whose specialization is in recycling and data destruction.

What “IT” is, is networking and telecommunications equipment you might find in your company’s Data Center, Communications Center (Comm Center) or Network Operation Center (NOC). Usually this product will be in a 7’ high, either 19” or 23” wide, equipment rack or in a much larger cabinet. The “money” cards (called circuit packs) will be in shelves within the cabinets. The rest is scrap.

The reason this type of equipment is a high value commodity is because, unlike desk top IT, networking and communications equipment has a long life span. Does that sound unbelievable? Well, if your company happens to have a GTD-5 telecom switch, the value would be around $25,000 to $75,000 depending on the card configuration. That switch, incidentally, was first released in 1982, and discontinued from manufacturing in 2002! We have daily RFQs from telephone companies, large and small, regional and rural, still looking for network spares so they can keep their communications up and running in case a card breaks down.

Even in this new age of VoIP and digital communications, this technology is valuable.Think about a freeway that can no longer handle traffic without congestion. Do they replace a freeway every 3-5 years? No. They expand it by adding lanes to handle more traffic. Same deal with handling communications traffic. As more bandwidth is required to handle larger files, video and graphics, these older switches can be adapted to handle greater and greater volume.

Telecom companies around the word still need network spares. Not only telecoms, but also medium and large sized corporations have older comm equipment that will need network spares to keep going. So why not just replace older equipment at your company? Because it works and there’s a secondary market that supports it and repair depots that can fix what can’t be found any more.

Create business cases for the Investment Recovery Department to directly handle or be directly involved with, marketable communications equipment.

Now that you know what IT is and where to find IT, you need to find out who is responsible for the asset. Maybe it’s you? Your boss or coworkers? Purchasing or IT Department? If IR is not directly responsible for these high profile assets, you should be. After all, IR can always do a better job handling surplus assets given time, space and resources. There are a number of good reasons that the IR Department should have control of or, at very least, strong input into your company’s decision making process regarding surplus technology assets:

Supervise t he resale of the assets directly

Outsource to another company

Advise another department within your organization

IR personnel are the experts

Perhaps the most compelling reason to have the responsibility, or at the very least input, into the decisions regarding this type of product is because of its potentially high return. The department that returns the most to your company’s bottom line is the one that is visible and of value. In today’s tight world of limited budgets, providing value is what keeps you employed.

So how do you make the business case? This is the easiest part of all. Once you have found these assets (maybe not today, maybe next year) you can—with the help of a trustworthy secondary market distributor who sells upstream to end-users—determine the range of current market activity and pricing. This will prove invaluable to making your case for taking on the responsibility to move these assets. Once you have an idea of value, you can explore many of the options at your disposal including sale or consignment to a secondary market specialist. There are plenty of them out there. A few are even members of the Investment Recovery Association! Seek them out, run your product through them, and prove your value to your department and company.

Summary

The best business case of all is to ask the powers that be what they would prefer: That you find $100,000 of hidden treasures in the comm. room? Or that you discover the IT Department scrapped $100,000 worth of high value surplus because it was treated as if it was e-Waste?

This article is a reprint from ASSET 2.0, the Investment Recovery Business Journal (VOL. 2, 2012), published by the Investment Recovery Association, an organization dedicated to the professional management of surplus assets. Learn more at www.InvRecovery.org

Serious Good® is an initiative to bring together our customers, partner nonprofits, business and community in an ongoing collaboration to address the digital divide – a growing gap between the digitally enabled and the digitally excluded in American society. Serious Good provides a sustainable solution by helping businesses leverage low-value used computers as strategic assets that enhance the Giving ROI of corporate philanthropy – a key C-level priority for building brands and driving bottom-line results.

People in under served communities, and the organizations that are helping them break cycles of poverty, desperately need basic technology to gain equal footing with mainstream society. Exclusion from digital resources makes it much more challenging for individuals and families to advance in school and careers, access services, maintain social networks, participate in community, the political process and much more.

And nonprofit organizations committed to meeting the needs of society’s under served too often lack basic computers to help them manage operations, extend outreach and improve services.

Donating Computers: The Serious Good Solution

Your surplus corporate IT can be part of the answer by providing quality refurbished computers. Every year, U.S. businesses replace approximately 40 million computers. According to Gartner reports, 75% of these are four years old or less, meaning they have plenty of useful life remaining. Yet more than half are stowed away in warehouses and closets or disposed.

Too often organizations relegate unwanted IT assets to storage or premature recycling because they lack the processes and resources to decommission the equipment properly.

Through a managed asset recovery, refurbishment and donation administration process, you can restore low-value and decommissioned technology to “like-new” condition. When you donate computers, you

Bring new life to millions of computers that would go unused or be disposed

Transform surplus IT into a strategic investment in community renewal – an asset with productive potential unlike any other surplus property

Some corporations have tried technology donation programs in the past with unsatisfactory results. Barriers to computer donation include concerns about data security, environmental liability, software costs and licensing issues, administrative and end-user technical support and more. A managed, strategic approach provides peace of mind by making the process simple, secure and reliable while ensuring that recipients have reliable computers that help them cross the digital divide.

Our approach also provides a new way for IT to align with the broader goals of the business. Teamwork between IT, CSR and Marketing is critical to success. While IT has a supply of surplus IT to donate, the CSR team can provide insight on the strategic partnerships that best support corporate goals, partnerships and commercial opportunities. Marketing helps increase the CSR value of the donation by spreading the word among employees, the news media and other key audiences. CSR and Marketing may also provide funding to underwrite refurbishment costs.

Through collaboration, companies can achieve the full potential of a donation program – and that’s a Serious Good result.

Serious Good – It’s Good Business

Donating refurbished computers delivers results on the triple bottom line of financial, social and environmental sustainability.

Financial. Refurbishment dramatically increases the value of your surplus PCs to generate greater return on assets. Every dollar invested in refurbishing yields a Giving ROI of $5 to $7. Strategic donation can also strengthen or build new customer relationships, providing a commercial benefit to your business.

Social. Computer donations enhance corporate social responsibility, which according to studies provides critical competitive advantages for businesses in terms of building brand equity and attracting and retaining customers, employees and strategic partners.

80% of the financial conversations I have with companies interested in IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) services surround the following:

What is the cost for electronics recycling?

What are you going to pay me for this equipment?

What do you charge for data destruction and auditing?

But the other 20% of people “in the know” include LOGISTICS & INTERNAL LABOR into a total cost analysis of IT equipment disposition.

You would be surprised to find out how many people I speak with negotiate on pennies per lb for our electronics recycling rates but overlook the savings they obtain through using a company with a national footprint that coincides with their company’s own footprint; minimizing the impact of logistics on a total cost basis. As a matter of fact, logistics is likely to have the highest cost per asset of all the expenses tied to the disposition process.

So why don’t people pay more attention to logistics? Because to properly estimate this expense organizations need to provide:

Actual pickup weight

Actual pallet counts

How many man hours are required (for packout projects)

This sounds simple but the reality is that most companies don’t have this information as they accumulate material in storage/equipment rooms, closets, offices, basements, etc and rarely have the material palletized let alone weighed. Thus for an ITAD firm like LifeSpan to estimate a logistics expense, they need to make assumptions based on the information available and hedge their bets so as not to get burned.

Does it make sense to pay extra for packout services? Well that depends. Simply stated, if you multiply the internal man hours needed to palletize the equipment on your own by their hourly rate vs. the up charge for packout services your answer gets more visible. You then have to consider, if it is cheaper to perform this function internally do you REALLY want your tech staff pulled from other tactical functions that have more importance to your organization.

What can you do to help the issue? Information is king so share as much as you have. This is no time to hold back.

If you have an asset list with the quantities of IT equipment by product category (PCs, laptops, monitors, servers, telephony, etc) along with make and model information…provide it. If not see if you have the internal resources to get it or alternatively ask your ITAD provider if they have any personnel that can help acquire this information for you.

Make sure you advise where the IT equipment is located in your building, freight elevator access, loading dock access, hours of availability, and any COI requirements that may exist.

To minimize expense, try to avoid weekend or after hours pickups and if possible

IMPORTANT: Advise if any of the IT assets still have sensitive data on them and discuss the chain of custody concerns with your provider. The level of risk associated with the possibility of data being compromised should be in sync with the logistics solution for the pickup. There are many options for the organization to minimize the risk upfront as well as the ITAD provider to provide secure solutions from pickup to facility that are available and worth dialog.

A post project review is also a good idea to help insure expectations were met and any opportunities for improvement are discussed for future projects.

The takeaway?

Logistics can be expensive. Don’t forget to assess this element into your total cost of IT asset disposition.

Be as transparent about the state and nature of the equipment as possible.

Work WITH your ITAD provider to build a knowledge base of your requirements and develop best practices and procedures that can be use for future needs.

If you would like to learn more about this topic or LifeSpan’s ITAD EKG Assessment Program, feel free to contact me at: